While we’re at it, here’s another prompt we wanted to start off with: tracking mentions of math found in news and other media outside the classroom. As I referenced in an earlier post, this pandemic has thrust lots of statistics, charts, graphs, and calculations into the public eye. If you see any interesting articles, graphics, etc. related to math, go ahead and post a short description with a link and/or screenshot under the tag “Math in the Media.”
I’ll get the ball rolling with an interesting article I saw today on one result of the worldwide lockdowns that I hadn’t previously considered.
According to Forbes, seismometers (instruments intended to record vibrations from “earthquakes, eruptions, and explosions”) around the world have recently registered measurable decreases in seismic activity due to dramatic reductions in auto traffic and other human activities. Author David Bressan provides graphs of “seismic noise” over the past couple months near Brussels, Belgium and Milan, Italy and notes that, according to the Brussels seismometer, “vibrations caused by human activity have fallen by about one third” since the government enacted lockdown orders on March 18th. While somewhat grim, I think it’s truly mind-boggling to consider the cosmic impact of this virus as represented by these graphs and figures. Here’s the article.